All Thanks to a Memory
by Zuvie Girl
Summary: Time travel fic. Harry is thrown back in time due to a special memory, and gets to spend time with his teenage parents while he is teaching.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **For a long time, I've liked time travel fics, so I decided I'd try my hand at writing one. Please read, review, and enjoy, and I hope you like it! Also, if you're looking for other reads, check out my other fics, Lily and James: A Broken Team, and Marauding Professors!**

The young man looked up to the castle in front of him and gritted his teeth, trying to decide whether or not he was insane. But still, he straightened his dark cloak and adjusted his grip on the massive trunk he was carrying behind him, and began the long walk up to the castle doors.

He marched directly to the headmaster's office and stopped in front of the passage way leading to it, pulling a weathered piece of parchment from within his cloak and muttering something about being up to no good. Seconds later, he muttered something else, and folded the parchment before turning to the stone gargoyles blocking his way.

"Chocolate frogs," he said, before walking up the spiral staircase and knocking on the door that greeted him.

"Please come in," came the voice from behind the door.

Taking a deep breath, the man pushed the heavy door open and walked inside.

"Ah! Mr. Potter! What a surprise. What brings you here?" Albus Dumbledore asked from behind his desk, blue eyes sparkling.

"Well, sir," the young man said, "I am a Mr. Potter, but not the one you think I am. My name is Harry Potter. I was wondering if you had an open Defense Against the Dark Arts teaching position."

Curious, Dumbledore said, "Mr. Potter, would you mind answering a few questions for me?"

Harry nodded. He had been expecting questions.

"Are you related to James Potter? You bear a striking resemblance to him."

Pursing his lips, Harry answered, "Yes, sir, I am. James Potter is my father."

For a moment, Dumbledore actually seemed shocked. Then, composing himself, he asked. "And your mother? Would I know her as well?"

"My mother's name is Lily Evans, sir."

Not bothering to control his smile, the old man said, "When were you born, Mr. Potter? How old are you, and how did you end up here?"

Harry answered, "I'm 19 years old, and I was born in 1980. As to how I got here, well, sir, I'm sorry about being so blunt about it, but in my time, you are dead. You left me your pensieve and several boxes of memories.

"One day, I was looking through those and found one labeled 'Harry – to become familiar with your parents.' It was a message to me from you, telling me about the young teacher from the future who taught during the last year my parents were at school. I was instructed to gather whatever I would need for the next year, and to watch another memory.

"I put that into the pensieve, and I landed on the front lawn. So, here I am, sir. I'd like to teach Defense if the position is open."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "That is certainly interesting, Mr. Potter. May I ask how you are qualified to teach?"

Dully, Harry answered, "I've fought Voldemort many times, finally destroying him at 17. In my 5th year, I taught a group of fellow students Defense, in place of the terrible teacher we had. I became a licensed Auror last month. I've lost so many people to Voldemort, and I know too many people in the same boat as I am. I hope that by teaching I can save the lives of some of these students and their families."

"Very impressive," Dumbledore said, "I believe you, Harry, and I'm positive you'll make a valuable addition to our staff. To be sure, though, I'd like to have you tell me the same thing while under Veritaserum, to be sure you're not working for Lord Voldemort."

Harry agreed, and then repeated his story under the influence of the truth potion.

Please, Dumbledore said, "Excellent! Welcome to Hogwarts, Professor Peterson. I'll have a house elf show you to your room, office, and classroom."

"Um, Professor _Peterson_, sir?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, yes. You can't go by Potter, it will just arise unnecessary questions. You should probably alter your appearance as well, "Dumbledore mused. "A change of hair color, and possibly eye color, as I can see you've inherited your mother's eyes."

Harry obliged, silently changing his long messy, dark hair to light blonde, and changing his brilliant emerald eyes to a duller green-brown color.

"Oh, and Harry," Dumbledore said, "You must not say anything about the future without thinking about it. If you do decide to say something, before you leave either you or I will be performing a selective memory charm."

Harry nodded. "I was already planning on it, even if I didn't mention anything. Is there anything else, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Not that I can think of. Students are going to be arriving at quarter to seven tomorrow night. The feast starts at seven, so if you would be there by a little before 6 :45, it'd be wonderful. Sleep well."

Harry grinned back at the man in front of him, before following a house elf to his room, where he fell asleep greatly anticipating the next day.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: First off, thanks so much to those of you who have already read, reviewed, and favorite me! Second, just a warning, I'm not sure when the next update will be coming. I'll be on a couple trips and don't know when I'll get computer access. Aside from that, here's chapter 2. Please read, review, and enjoy, and as always, check out my other fics as well!**

The next day, Harry walked past the mirror in his room on the way to organize his classroom. He paused as he looked at his new reflection and laughed. He still looked like his dad, but it would take more than a glance to notice it.

Once in the classroom, Harry began filling the bookshelves and display cases. His most private books and items like Gryffindor's sword and his pensieve he kept in his office.

After hours, he opened the final box and began to foundly sit pictures on his desk, all of them modified so his appearance matched. There was the huge family picture of the Weasley's, Hermione, and him, all beaming up at him. Next to it, Harry placed a photo of Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and himself. The final picture that Harry put on his desk was a picture of him holding his godson, Teddy.

With a start, Harry realized that he needed to be in the Great Hall in thirty minutes. After quickly cleaning up, he took a passageway and ran to his room. He made a brief attempt to tame his hair, but soon gave up. After changing into emerald green robes, Harry took off running to the Great Hall, skidding through the staff door to see the Head Table already full.

With a sheepish grin and a little wave, Harry slid into the empty seat, and tried to quell the anticipation that was building inside of him.

Shortly after, the first students began to trickle in, and Harry eagerly turned his attention to the doors.

Then, a few moments later, his heart jumped as he noticed four loud boys tumble into the Hall. One of them must have seen him, because soon they were all pointing at him.

Harry noticed and grinned back at the boys, happy to be seeing his dad, godfather, and the father of his godson alive again. With another jolt, he saw the boy who would, in just a few short years, be the cause of his parent's death, and when that boy looked at him, Harry had to try his hardest to not kill him on the spot.

Laughing, the boys took their seats, and Harry retrained his attention on the door. Almost immediately, his next wish was granted when a small group of girls walked in.

His gaze fell upon a girl with vivid red hair, and he watched as she walked to her seat. She must have felt that he was staring at her, because she turned and searched out of source of it. When she saw him she smiled shyly, and he smiled back, hoping that his sadness wasn't reflected on his face.

It was only after his seventeen-year-old mother took her seat that Harry began to look around the Hall, recognizing people who would grow up to work at the Ministry of Magic or to be the parents of people he went to school with.

He was soon interrupted when Professor McGonagall threw open the door and led the terrified first years up front to be sorted.

As the final student gave the ancient Sorting Hat back to McGonagall, Dumbledore stood and began to talk.

"Welcome to another year here at Hogwarts! I have just a few announcements, then you can all stop pretending that you're listening and start to eat. The Forbidden Forest is, as you first years and some of you older students should know, is in fact forbidden. There is a very long list of banned items posted on the door of the caretaker's office, and if you feel like entertaining yourselves by reading it, it's there for your pleasure.

"I'd like to introduce this years' Head Girl and Boy, Lily Evans and James Potter. If the two of you would stand briefly? Thank you.

"Finally, we have a new face at the staff table this year. Professor Harry Peterson will be with us for a year, and will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Let's give him a warm welcome! Excellent! Now, dig in!"

The witch next to him, who happened to be McGonagall, noticed that he was watching the Marauders. "You're right to watch those four, Professor Peterson. I've never seen bigger trouble makers than them in my life. They're brilliant – most of them, at least – but… I'd be prepared for something to happen tonight still; they enjoy welcoming new teachers."

Harry grinned – he was already expecting a prank of some kind. "Thanks, Professor. I'll keep my guard up."

Then, tiny Professor Flitwick on his other side said, "Filius Flitwick, pleased to meet you. I apologize, but I just have to ask. I've heard rumors that you're an Auror, are they true?"

Harry cleared his throat. "Er, yeah. I am an Auror," he answered, still watching his future dad and godfather closely.

Flitwick was flabbergasted. "Amazing! I didn't think I had heard right. Why, you can't be more than 20!"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not. Excuse me."

He had seen the subtle signs in the Marauders that he himself had actually used before. Quickly, he drew up a strong shield around himself and put a spell around that which reflected whatever hit it back to the sender.

He looked down at his plate and saw that all the food on it had arranged itself into words, saying, 'Welcome to Hogwarts!' He cocked his eyebrow and looked up, to see most of the Great Hall looking at him, waiting for what they knew was coming.

Harry almost had to laugh at the sheer confusion that appeared on the Marauders' faces as their spell didn't work.

A few minutes later, though, he couldn't hold in his laugher. What appeared to be invisible buckets of food were suddenly dumped on the boys' heads, and the food on their plates soon read, 'Thanks for the welcome!'

As the four food-covered boys turned to look at Harry, he laughed outright at their bewildered faces.

Glancing around the Hall, Harry found his mum, laughing with her friends, most likely at James.

He was still smiling when Dumbledore stood up and said, "On that surprising note, I release you all to your dormitories. Prefects, lead the first years to your house common rooms. Sleep well, everybody."

________________________________________________________________________

Half an hour later, Harry was sitting in his office, reviewing his ideas for the next day's classes. There was a knock at the door, and he quickly glanced at his inherited map before hiding it and unlocking the door, saying, "Come in."

Lily and James entered the room with eyes wide, taking in the office decorations and their professor with is stocking feet on his desk.

Suddenly, Lily seemed to remember she had a job to do, and said, "Er, hi Professor. My name is Lily Evans, I'm the Head Girl, and the idiot who's staring at your shelves is the Head Boy, James Potter."

James heard his name and his head jerked from Lily to Harry, and then back to the display he was looking at. "What is this, Professor?"

Harry glanced at what James was point to and answered, "A basilisk fang."

"Wicked!" James exclaimed. "Did the guy who decided to attack the thing live?"

Laughing a little and absently rubbing the spot on his arm where that very fang had stabbed him, Harry said, "He did, actually. Can I help the two of you with anything?"

"Well," Lily said, "We've been told to make sure you feel at home and to talk to you, to help you transition to teaching. Is now a good time?"

Harry nodded and motioned for his future mother and father to follow him to the couch and armchair on the other side of the room. Taking the single chair, he forced Lily to sit next to James and grinned inwardly.

"So," he said. "I know the two of you will be busy, and I know that I'll be busy too. So, how about we plan on doing this once or twice a week for just a few minutes each time, and I'll find you if I have any questions. Sound good?"

James saluted. "Yes, sir! Can I ask the first question?"

"You just did. However, tonight I'd like to pass on this, because the questions you'll most likely ask I will be asked in class tomorrow. If either of you ever need advice don't hesitate to come to me. Is there anything else?" Harry said.

"Yeah," James piped up. "It's about the prank at the feast."

Lily groaned. "In that case, I'm leaving. Nice to meet you, Professor."

As she turned to leave the room, James said, "I'll talk to you later, Professor. Got to go. Evans! Hey! Evans, wait up!"

After James had slammed the door shut, Harry shook his head and sat down, smiling. Everything anybody (besides Snape) had ever told him about his mum and dad was true, and now he was getting to witness it all firsthand.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: First off, thanks so much to those of you who have already read, reviewed, and favorite me! Yay, I'm back from all my trips! Hopefully updates will start to be more regular now. Please read, review, and enjoy, and as always, check out my other fics as well!**

The next day, Harry woke up and purposefully donned a pair of robes with the Auror crest on them before heading down to breakfast.

A schedule was sitting at his spot on the table, and he looked at it to see that his first class was his N.E.W.T. level class. A quick glance up told him the Marauders had also gotten their schedules and were looking forward to their first class.

Harry sighed. '_Might as well get the most inquisitive and hardest to teach class out of the way first,_' he thought to himself.

McGonagall, who had drawn up the schedules, said, "I hope you're ready for them; that group can be a handful. I almost considered changing the entire time-table, but you come with your qualifications, and frankly, if you can handle this, you can handle anything."

Harry grinned. "Thanks for the warning, Professor. I'm actually looking forward to it."

________________________________________________________________________

A bit later, Harry was sitting at his desk planning out classes, when there was a knock on the door.

After looking at his map and seeing his entire class outside the room, he waved his hand and opened the door from his desk.

Slowly, the students filed in and took their seats. Seeing the Marauders take the front row, Harry figured his class would be the only one they'd sit in front rather than in back.

"Okay," Harry said, standing and moving to sit on his desk facing the class. "I know nothing about what you've learned so far, and I know you're all incredibly curious about me. So, we're going to split class into two parts today - you asking about me, and me asking about what you know. Sound good? Excellent, first question, and say your name please."

A hand shot up instantly, and Harry turned away to roll his eyes. "Yes?"

"Sirius Black's the name! How old are you?" asked the 17-year-old version of his godfather.

"I'm 19."

"You didn't go to school here, though, or we would recognize you. So where did you go to school at? Oh, I'm Remus Lupin, by the way."

"I went to school at the Salem Academy in the United States," Harry answered.

"But you sound British," James pointed out.

"Great! Then I mastered the accent in a day!" Harry replied sarcastically. "But yes, Mr. Potter, I do sound British, because I am. I was born here and went to the U.S. only after I turned 11, and came back every summer."

"I have a question," came a voice from the back of the room. "Do you think wearing somebody else's Auror robes will impress us?"

Harry looked up slowly. "Wel, Mr…."

"Snape."

"Well, Mr. Snape. No, I do not mean to impress you be wearing these robes, which actually are mine if you must know."

"You can't be an Auror!" Snape retorted.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "I got my license last month."

"I don't believe you," the greasy haired boy said.

"Fine, don't believe me. Class, remind me to duel against Mr. Snape when we get to that unit. Any other questions?"

Lily raised her hand and waited to be called on. "I don't mean to sound negative, but how do you have the experience to teach, especially classes like this where you're only a year or two older than the students?"

Harry nodded. "Good question, Ms. Evans. When I was 15, I ended up teaching a group of students – many who were older than I was – because our teacher that year was a joke. They all respected me because of the things I had done in the past. I don't want to go into that, but I've been hugely affected by the people who follow the Dark Arts since I was one-year-old, and that's why I've been fighting against them for so long. On that note, one more question, and then it's my turn to ask them. Mr. Black?"

"Did you leave your wife and kid back in the U.S. to come teach here?"

Harry looked at Sirius with a puzzled look on his face, and then quickly to Remus, before answering. "You're asking based on the photo on my desk? No, I didn't leave my wife and kid in the U.S. I'm not married, and I don't have a kid. The little boy in the picture with me is my godson."

Harry turned to his desk to get his list of possible subjects, but whipped his head around to James. "Don't even think about it. That goes for all three of you."

James looked up and blinked. "Think about what, Professor?"

"About throwing those dung bombs and getting out of the second half of class. I'll let you keep them as long as you don't consider disrupting class again."

"But, Professor," whined Sirius. "Didn't you ever disrupt class back when you were in school?"

Harry laughed. "Oh, I did, don't worry. It's just that now, I'm in charge. All right, then. Have you studied Unforgivable Curses? Patronuses? Dueling? Boggarts?"

With each successive shake of the head that Harry got, he became increasingly frustrated.

"Have you studied Grindylows?" he asked sarcastically.

Slightly afraid of their border-line crazy teacher, the class eagerly nodded that they had learned about Grindylows.

"Well good. If you're ever in the middle of a giant lake or pond and get attacked by one, then you're set! With things how they are, you should be prepared, and you guys are not. For the next class, we'll be talking about the Unforgivables. Class dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm REALLY sorry about the long gap between updates. My senior year in high school will start in a month, and things are picking up, meaning I'm starting to have a crazy schedule again. On the plus side, I have several chapters written, so it will just be a matter of when I have the chance to get on the computer with my flash drive. If you read my Twilight fic, I think I'm going to put that one on hold for a little while – really bad writer's block and very little time. Anyway, here's Chapter 4. Please read, review, and enjoy!**

******Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, and I don't own any of this. This chapter is very similar to Chapter 14 in Goblet of Fire.*******

A few days later, Harry was sitting at his desk, waiting for his N.E.W.T. class to arrive. When they did, they quickly sat down and became quiet, sensing the mood in the room.

Harry sighed and walked to the front of the room, where he began the lesson. "Well. This will probably be the lesson that I enjoy teaching the least. I'll be basing this on the lesson that my teacher gave when I was 14. Who can tell me one of the three Curses? Mr. Potter?"

James looked up, for once fully interested in the lesson. "My dad mentions the Imperious Curse at home. I guess he deals with it at work a lot."

"Good," Harry said, pulling out a jar of spiders from under his desk. "The Imperious Curse allows the caster to take control of another person or animal – like this spider, for instance. _Imperio_! Merlin, I hate casting these things. I can make this spider dance on Mr. Black's head, or attempt to clean Mr. Snape's hair. Don't laugh! It's not at al funny. I could make this spider throw itself out the window, or if I cast the spell on Mr. Black, I could have him kill Mr. Potter. I could have Mr. Potter kill Ms. Evans."

James and Sirius both looked insulted, saying, at the same time, "I'd _never_ do that!"

Harry shrugged. "It's not a matter of if you would do it, it's a matter of how well you can fight off the curse, and yes, you can do that. If you're interested, I canstart an our of class club of sorts to help train you to fight it. You wouldn't want to half jump into a desk in front of class like I did when I learned how. Now, can anyone tell me another Curse? Mr. Black?"

Sirius' face clouded over, and he spat out, "The Cruciatus Curse."

Harry nodded. "Yes. The Cruciatus Curse inflicts torture on whoever it's cast on. I know people who have been tortured into insanity they've been subject to the curse for so long. Let me tell you, it's not at all pleasant. This is actually the first Unforgivable that I ever used – I was 15, and it did little more than make her trip."

Harry plucked another spider from his jar and enlarged it, before whispering, "_Crucio_."

The spider began to wither and twitch, and Harry quickly released the creature of the spell and put it back in the jar.

Taking a glance around the room, Harry said, "That was the Cruciatus Curse, can anybody name the final Curse?"

Lily raised her hand slowly, and Harry fixed her with a sad stare before calling on her.

She ducked her head and quietly answered, "It's the Killing Curse, Professor, _Avada Kedavra_."

Harry nodded grimly, his gaze settling on Lily, then James, then Snape, and finally Sirius before coming back to Lily and James.

"_Avada Kedavra_ is instant death along with a flash of green light. I've witnessed it countless times, but today will be the first day I actually use it. Nobody who has been hit with the Killing Curse has lived, but I'm not saying that it absolutely can't happen," Harry explained, absently rubbing the spot where his scar was concealed.

He slowly reached into the jar, and pulled out the final spider, which he set on his desk. He then trained his wand on it and took a deep breath, before all but mouthing the words, "_Avada Kedavra_."

There was a blinding flash of green light, and the 7th years looked up at their young teacher, who was staring at the dead spider on his desk, a look of pure disgust on his face.

Harry then fixed his piercing gaze on Lily and James for a few moments, before coming to his senses and dismissing his class. "Er, right then. I want you to write a N.E.W.T. level essay on the three Curses you learned about today by the next lesson. Mr. Potter, Ms. Evans, tonight you can talk to me if you'd like. Class dismissed."

________________________________________________________________________

Later that night, Harry was sprawled on the floor of his office, surrounded by stacks of the quizzes he had given his 3rd years. When he heard a knock on the door, he quickly abandoned his grading to answer the door.

"James! Lily! You've both got a few questions for me, I would think. I'm going to keep grading, if you don't mind, so move a pile of papers and take a seat on the floor," Harry invited them in.

Hesitantly, they both shoved aside piles and took their seats, awkwardly watching their teacher as he graded.

"Well?" Harry asked after a few moments. "I thought you were here to ask me questions about my life."

Almost immediately, James asked, "Do you have a girlfriend, Professor?"

Lily rolled her eyes, and Harry answered, "Yeah, I do. Her name's Ginny."

"That picture on your desk in the classroom, why are there only three of you who don't have red hair? Are they all your siblings?" James fired off.

"They're not my siblings. That's my best friend's family, and it's basically mind as well. The girl with brown hair is my other best friend, and the other blonde is married to my friend's oldest brother. It's my family, a few of us are just additions to it."

"You were adopted, then?" Lily inquired.

"Well, I suppose I was, not by them though. I grew up at my aunt and uncle's house. The people in the picture kind of adopted me from my aunt and uncle almost. The brown-haired girl is actually engaged to our other best friend, and well, Ginny is his kid sister, so that's a real short version of it," Harry explained.

James snorted. "You're dating your best friends little sister? That must have gone over well."

Harry shrugged. "It was good enough. What about you two? Do you have any siblings?" he asked, already knowing the answers.

With a sigh, Lily nodded. "I've got an older sister, Sir, but there's not much to tell. We don't get along well, and haven't since I got my Hogwarts letter."

"And I've got one brother," James said, when Lily finished.

"No you don't," Lily argued.

"I do so," countered James.

"Black is not your brother, Potter."

"He may as well be. His family no longer recognizes him, and he's lived with me for the past two years."

Harry was about to interrupt the bickering, but a loud bang from above did it for him, and all three of them looked up to the ceiling in confusion.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So, I realized that when I said I was going to try to update more often, that was a lie, and I apologize. School starts in about a week and a half, so I'm suddenly going to get busier again, but I promise to make an effort to try for Sunday updates. When I was getting this ready to update, I realized that it seemed kind of short, so sorry about that too. On those notes, please read, review, and enjoy!**

"Oh, crap," Harry muttered, as he watched the red-head tumble to the floor. Reacting quickly, he cast a spell that would allow he and his girlfriend to speak and to understand a different language, and he pulled her up from the floor into a strong hug.

"Before you yell at me, Gin," he whispered in her ear, glancing over her shoulder at Lily and James, who were entirely confused. "My last name here is Peterson – I'll explain it later. Oh, and make up a middle name that's different."

He then released both Ginny and his spell, and the young red-head exploded at him as he watched calmly.

"Harry… Dean… Peterson! What in the world were you thinking? Just off and disappearing like that… you should have seen Mum! I've never seen her that angry in my life! With all that's going on, we all thought you'd been killed or kidnapped! It was all Dad could do to stop Mum from forming a massive search party! We missed you Harry, you don't even know how much."

Harry pulled Ginny into another crushing hug and asked, "Dean?"

She laughed through her fury, and her scowl broke as he whispered back, "I missed you too, Gin, don't worry."

Behind them, James cleared his throat, receiving both an elbow in the gut from Lily and a glare from Harry.

Harry then put his arm around Ginny and spun her to face his two students.

Her mouth dropped. "Harry, is that…? Are they…? So are we in the…? Oh, Merlin!"

Harry laughed. "Ginny, this is the Head Girl and Boy, Lily Evans and James Potter. Lily, James, this is my girlfriend, Ginny West."

James nodded appreciatively. "A red-head. I like your taste, Professor."

Lily slapped him across the face, and both Harry and Ginny had to struggle to hold in their snorts.

As James rubbed his check gingerly, Harry suggested, "Well, you had a couple questions answered, and well, obviously I have a little catching up to do. I'll see you tomorrow."

James waggled his eyebrows, "Catching up, you say?"

"Don't make me hex you, James Potter," Harry threatened, pointing his wand first at James, then at the door. "Out!"

As the door shut behind his 17-year-old father, Harry both sealed and soundproofed the room before leading Ginny over to the couch.

He checked his map and then looked at his girlfriend.

"Was that as awkward as I thought it was, or do I not understand what's going on?" she asked.

"No. You understand it perfectly fine," he laughed. "Except I'd bet it was just a tiny bit more awkward for me. Gin, how did you get here?"

She shrugged, "Honestly, I don't know. I was helping Mum clean and just appeared here. Merlin, Mum must be going absolutely insane now. How did _you_ get here?"

"Enchanted memory, you know, the usual way of sending yourself so far back," Harry answered with a laugh.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "How could I forget about that way of time travel? You're teaching?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, Defense again. It's a riot, Gin! So many of these kids I know as adults. It's bizarre!"

"So are your mum and dad together yet?" Ginny asked.

Harry raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend. "Does it look like they're together?"

She laughed. "By the way professor, I think you've found yourself an assistant teacher. What classes do we have tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's a Saturday, Gin. Let's go find Dumbledore and let him know that I found a visitor who's willing to help teach. I'm sure he'd love to introduce you at breakfast tomorrow morning.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, when I said more frequent updates, I lied, and I'm sorry. Last weekend I was traveling and had a concert and didn't have time. I'm going to TRY to get back on the 'every weekend update schedule,' but I'm not making any promises. School started this past Wednesday, and half of my teachers didn't even bother to wait until the second day to hand out piles of homework. That and the fact that most of my classes are AP and that I start work again soon will mean I'm very busy, but I will try to update every Sunday. **

**So, on that note, please Read, Review, and Enjoy! **

The next day, Harry and Ginny had decided to go out to the Quidditch pitch and fly around. They had disguised their top class 'future brooms' to look like the best brooms from 1977.

Harry gleefully kicked off before they even got to the pitch, too anxious to fly. Ginny watched him soar all over as she finished the walk to the pitch, and then she too quickly took to the air.

They were both free when they flew, especially Harry. It was something that was terribly natural to him, and it made any stress disappear for the time he was in the air.

With a joyous whoop, Harry shot past Ginny and went into a high-speed Wronski Feint. As he pulled out of the dive just feet above the ground, he heard a cheer from the stands and noticed that James and Sirius were standing there.

He motioned to Ginny, and they flew over to meet their students.

"Merlin, Professor!" James breathed. "That was the most incredible flying I've ever seen! I didn't know you played Quidditch."

"Yeah," Sirius chimed in. "You know you're amazing at flying when Jamesie here tells you so, because most of the time he just thinks he's the best there is."

Harry laughed at the boys who would grow up to play such crucial parts in his life, his arm around Ginny's shoulder. "I played Seeker on my school team starting my first year, and I captained the team too for a bit, so I guess I'm also pretty decent at the other positions."

"You're a pretty lousy Keeper though," Ginny added, smirking.

"Gee, thanks, Gin."

"Where'd you learn to play so well?" Sirius asked.

"Well, actually, the day I made my team was the first day I'd ever flown. I was really nervous about it. Most of it comes fairly naturally to me, I guess. I've been told my father was a more-than-decent player back in his day."

"I bet he'd be incredibly proud of you," James said, in awe.

"I like to think he his," Harry said, as Ginny squeezed his hand. "But, hey, well you're out here, what do you say to a friendly game of two-on-two?"

"Absolutely!" James cried. "But our brooms, they're locked in the team room."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "are you not team captain, James, with the password to the locker room? Hurry up, we'll play Sirius and I against James and Ginny!"

As they were locking the brooms up after Harry and Sirius' narrow win, James called out, "Er, Professor? A word?"

"Yeah?" Ginny said, turning to face him.

"Oh, um, not you Professor West, sorry. I was asking your boyfriend," he explained with a smirk.

"You just had to introduce me as your girlfriend," Ginny mumbled as Harry walked by.

"They would have found out anyway, love," Harry said with a quick kiss to Ginny.

She sighed. "Have I told you that your hair looks ridiculous?"

"You have, and you know I have no other option with it right now…"

"Professor Peterson!" James yelled.

"Right, sorry. I'll see you in a bit, Gin. Love you."

James and Harry walked towards the lake in silence for a few moments before James asked, "How long did it take you to win Professor West?"

Harry laughed. "Actually, it was her who had to win me. I told you she's my best friend's kid sister, right? Well, the first time I met him was the first time I saw her. Then, the next year, when she started school, I ended up having to save her from a bit of a problematic situation, and I think that started up her knowing she liked me. The summer before that was the first time I went to her house. Now, you can't tell her you know this, but she stuck her elbow in the butter dish that first day."

James ruffled his hair and ducked his head. "I've done that before when I was watching Lily."

"Well, that's okay, you were only 11 or 12."

"Er, no. It was the end of last year," James admitted.

"Oh," Harry managed, running a hand through his hair and feeling embarrassed for his dad.

For a few awkward moments, neither one of them said anything. Then finally, James asked, "So what happened?"

"Both of us had gone with at least one other person before I realized that Ginny was the one I really wanted to be with. We got together when I was 16, but I broke up with her at the end of that year because I thought it was dangerous for her. I'm just lucky she agreed to take me back."

"So, how should I win Lily, then?" James pleaded.

"First of all, you probably shouldn't treat her like something to be won. Second, you'd better hurry off to patrols, or she'll have another thing against you."

James looked at his watch and jumped. "Merlin! Thanks, Professor. I'll see you later!"

Harry watched James run off to the castle and sighed.

A few minutes later, James scrambled into the Heads' dorm, out of breath, only to see an irate Lily stand up, ready to chew him out.

"Potter!" she screeched. "We're supposed to be patrolling in one minute! Where were you? Did you think you could pass it all off on me?"

James help up his hand to stop her. When she finally did stop yelling, he said, "Sorry, Evans. I was talking to Professor Peterson outside and lost track of time. I would never put all of the patrolling on your plate. I got the position, and I'll do what I'm supposed to do. Plus, I technically wasn't late, you've got to give me that much."

By that time, they were a little late getting started, so Lily said, "Potter, just shut up. Let's get this over with."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, I've really been slacking with my stories online, and I'm really, really sorry. I've finally started writing a little bit more of this one, which is hopefully going to keep me reminded to update. Who knew that AP Calculus, AP Psychology, Physics, and AP English would be so hard to manage at the same time? I'll work on getting better at the updates. **

**So, on that note, please Read, Review (lots of reviews is a good thing!), and Enjoy! **

A few days later, Harry was once again teaching his N.E.W.T. class, Ginny at his side. As soon as the entire class sat down, Harry stood up from the desk he and Ginny were sitting on.

"All right," Harry said. "Today, we're going to learn about a very efficient shield. Who can tell me about a Patronus? Lily?"

"It's a smoky, silverfish shape, an animal that is unique to the caster, and it repels Dementors," she explained.

"Good. 5 points to Gryffindor. They also can transport messages from one person to another. The incantation is _Expecto Patronum_, and the one thing you have to remember is to think happy thoughts. I know it sounds stupid, but in all honesty, this doesn't work if you don't."

"Just show us already, Professor!" Sirius shouted.

Harry began casting the spell. "Expecto, Patro-"

He was cut off when Ginny jumped up and clapped a hand over his mouth, hissing, "You really need to think a little more about what you do or say, Potter."

"Fine," Harry said. "I didn't think. You do it then."

Ginny briefly closed her eyes and then opened them, casting her horse out into the room to various oohs and awws.

"We want to see Professor Peterson's!" James yelled.

With a sigh, Harry nonverbally cast a variation of the spell that was little known, sending a silver phoenix to soar around the room.

"There are a few variations of the Patronus, you just saw one of them. For the next few lessons, Professor West and I will teach you to cast the normal Patronus. I won't cast it in front of you for personal reasons, so you have to rely on Professor West for that. Any questions?"

Lily raised her hand and Harry called on her. "What's special about the kind that you just cast?"

"If it's done right, the Patronus will take on some of the characteristics of the animal it resembles. For example, mine is a phoenix, and if a person was injured, it would be able to heal them with its tears. It's a very powerful spell that takes a lot of energy. Not many people can do it. Other questions? Mr. Black?"

"Why can't we see your normal Patronus?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "It's very personal, and would reveal things about me that I don't want known. Now, pair up and think happy thoughts!"

The next night, there was a knock at the door to Harry and Ginny's office. Ginny opened it with a flick of her wand to admit Lily and James.

"Come to talk again?" Harry asked from where he and Ginny were curled up in an armchair.

"Yes, sir," James answered.

"Well, then come on in and sit down," Harry invited them, once again forcing them both onto the small couch.

James turned and grinned at Harry. "Comfortable, Professors?"

"Hey, James? Shut up," Harry growled.

Lily snorted, and then asked, "So can we learn more about you both?"

Ginny shrugged. "Ask away."

After a few seconds of silence, James looked up and awkwardly asked, "Professor Peterson, if you don't mind, what happened to your parents?"

Lily elbowed James and hissed, "What are you doing, Potter? That's a very personal question!"

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No, it's okay. He's curious, and I'll tell you."

"Harry, are you sure?" Ginny asked, squeezing her boyfriend's hand.

Running his free hand through his hair, Harry nodded to Ginny and began his explanation. "My mother and father were born in England, and both were magical. It was a pretty dark time, much like the one we're soon going to be in, very similar. My parents were part of a group who actively fought against the evil. They were both killed in my house by the man they were fighting against when I was one. My dad died trying to protect my mum, and she died protecting me. I'm very lucky that I wasn't killed as well."

James and Lily stared at their young professor in horror, as he blankly stated at them with a haunted look in his eyes.

"Er, look, Professor," James muttered. "I'm sorry I asked. Sorry to make you remember that."

"I promise you, James, it's okay," Harry reassured the boy he had just told the future to.

There was yet another awkward silence, then Lily turned to Ginny. "You have a big family, right Professor West?"

Ginny laughed, lightening the mood. "You could say that. I'm the youngest of seven, and the only girl. One of my brothers was killed a few years ago, and one isn't around the family very much. Only one of them is married yet, but I doubt it will be long from the rest of us, and lots of kids kinda run in the family. It's about time to wrap this up, then."

"Wait, Professor, can I talk to you in private?" Lily and James both asked at the same time, Lily to Ginny and James to Harry.

"Yeah," Harry said. "Come on, James, let's go to the classroom.

A few minutes later, Harry was seated across from his future father in the empty DADA room.

"Professor, I really am sorry about what I asked you earlier. I wasn't thinking much," James apologized.

"It really is alright, James, you have to understand that. I can't tell you how many times I've had to answer that question."

James protested. "You looked so sad, though. I'm sorry to have caused that."

"James Potter," Harry threatened. "If you apologize for that one more time, I'll hex you. I was a bit overemotional telling you the story. You remind me a lot of what I've heard about my dad. Better head off to patrols, James. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, thanks, Professor."

Meanwhile, Ginny and Lily sat in the office.

"Professor," Lily said timidly. "I'm a little confused about something. Could you maybe give me some advice?

Ginny nodded and asked what it was about, already having her own speculations on what it was.

"It's about James Potter," Lily admitted. "He's not acting normal. He's more mature and responsible than he's ever been. I don't know what prompted it or how to reply to it."

Ginny laughed and smirked at Lily. "He's doing it for you, Lily. He's trying to impress you."

"He is not!" Lily countered. "Right?"

"I really this he is. I can't be sure, of course, but that's what it looks like to me."

Lily groaned. "What should I do?"

Ginny shrugged. "That's up to you to decide."

"Thank you, Professor," Lily said as she ducked out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So, I decided I can't make any more promises about updates, because clearly I can't ever keep them. I've had the entire week off, and now is the only time I've had a chance to put up an update. AP Calculus… I regret taking it so much. But I've actually been writing a bit now, so I can stay ahead with chapters, even though it doesn't appear that way from my lack of updates. I'd still like to see more reviews and reads, so please READ, ENJOY, and REVIEW!! Here's chapter 8! Oh, and I know Lily's birthday isn't in October, for some reason when I first wrote this I thought it was, and I liked the chapter and how it turned out, so I'm taking some creative liberty and making her birthday in October for this one **

Things went on as normal for a good time. Harry and Ginny showed themselves to be the best DADA teachers the students had ever seen, teaching them more in a few short weeks than they'd been taught before. James continued to mystify Lily by acting responsibly and not playing pranks or asking her out.

One morning in October, Lily woke up to an owl tapping at the window, carrying a letter and a small package.

As soon as she opened the window, the owl flew in and dropped both items on her bed, before flying right back out.

Curiously, Lily opened the short letter, which read, 'Happy Birthday, Lily! Hope you like it!' It was unsigned.

She then unwrapped the little box and a delicate chain of gold fell into her hand. She picked it up and saw that it was a gold necklace with three emerald droplets dangling from it.

Lily gasped and checked the letter again to see if it named the sender. That necklace must have cost a fortune, and she couldn't imagine any one who would spend that much on her.

It was a beautiful necklace though, so right before she headed to the common room she shared with James, she clasped it around her neck.

James Potter was lounging on one of the couches, stroking the bird who had delivered her gift. He looked up as she came out of her room and said, "Happy birthday, Lily."

Lily sighed. Of course it was from James. "It was you, then?" she asked.

He sent his owl out the window and ran his hand through his hair, cautiously looking at Lily. "Er, yeah. I knew it was your birthday and I thought it would look nice with your eyes. Do you like it?"

Lily thought back to the conversation she had had with Professor West, then walked to the couch and sat next to James.

"I do like it," she admitted. "I can't believe you would spend so much money on me. This must have cost a fortune."

"I would think it's worth a lot," James agreed, "but I didn't spend anything on it. I would have though, if I had to pay for it."

"You didn't steal it, right?"

James laughed. "No. It was my grandmother's favorite necklace, actually. My mum got Grandmum's jewelry when she died, and I remembered seeing that necklace before in her room, and on my grandmum."

"James," Lily protested. "I can't take it then, it belongs to your family."

He looked at her startled. "You just called me James."

Lily stammered. "I…. I… yeah, I did call you James. I really can't keep this though."

He grinned at her goofily. "Please keep it, Lily. I've wanted to give it to you for a long time now. My grandmum would have wanted it to go to somebody like you. It looks great on you."

Lily sighed and looked at the boy in front of her. All of the defenses she had built up against his charm and wit, all of the promises she had made to herself, they were all slowly crumbling to her feet.

"Thank you, then," she finally said. "This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever given me before. I love it."

Confusing even herself, Lily then leaned over and gave James a small hug, before quickly exiting their dorm, leaving them both to figure out what had just happened.

After their Defense class that day, Lily hung back and asked to talk to her professors. Harry shut the door after pushing James out and assuring his that they wouldn't eat Lily, then joined Ginny sitting on the desk.

"Professor West, do you remember our conversation from the other day?"

Ginny nodded and Lily continued. "I think you're right. He gave me this beautiful and expensive necklace for my birthday, and I don't know how to react. Look!"

Lily pulled the gold chain from under her sweater to show her young teachers, and Ginny cast a sideways look at Harry.

"I completely understand," Ginny said. "Harry often buys me overly expensive gifts, and I grew up without a lot of money, so it's really difficult to know how to react. In fact, he got me a necklace that looks really similar to yours a few years ago."

"Really?" Lily asked, surprised. "James said he thought it was one of a kind. I guess it was made for his grandmother from his granddad."

Harry groaned and began pounding his fist into his head and muttering under his breath.

Lily sent Harry a strange look and timidly asked, "Er, Professor? I'm curious, where did you find your necklace, if it is so close to mine?"

"The one I gave Gin was my great-grandmum's," Harry answered, trying to quickly dismiss the topic.

"She gave it to you? That was nice of her."

The young man rolled his eyes, as his girlfriend was almost shaking with suppressed laugher. "Uh, no," he said. "I actually never met her. I inherited it from my mum. Somewhere along the line it was given to her by my dad, possibly when they were in school."

There was a few minutes of awkward silence. Harry and Ginny were crossing their fingers behind their backs, and Lily was attempting to understand what she had just heard.

"So what are you going to do?" Ginny asked suddenly.

Startled, Lily said, "I, well, I don't really know. I was hoping you could tell me."

Harry shook his head. "We can't tell you what to do, only what we think you should do. Personally, I think you should give the boy a chance."

"You would," Ginny laughed. "But I have to agree. You should give it a try."

Lily nodded, looking slightly frightened, before thanking her teachers and leaving the room.

"Harry!" Ginny accused, once she was sure Lily was gone. "You want them to find out, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think I do," he answered.

"But think of what could change!"

"Gin, love, we're putting the strongest memory charm possible on them. Just once, I'd like to be able to talk to my parents with them knowing they're my parents."

She hugged him and murmured in his ear. "Just wait until they get together, all right?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! You get an update today, isn't that exciting!? I'm sorry I suck at updates, and that I have to constantly put the same apology into my notes. Calculus should die, and if it wants to take Physics with it, more power to it. Yeah, that's what I'm blaming it on, for the most part. You know the drill – please read, review, and enjoy! Me gusta checking my email and seeing emails saying people reviewed! Here you go, chapter 9!**

Harry and Ginny were doing their assigned night patrols when they heard students' voices from around the corner. Quickly, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and covered both her and Ginny, and they leaned against the wall.

Lily and James turned the corner, unaware that they were being listened to.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, like you've fallen off your broomstick in your life."

"No, really!" he argued. "I'm not quite sure why I'm telling you, but it was my first day as captain last year. Sirius thought it would be funny to hex me off my broom in front of the team, who was all standing below. I summoned Sirius and fell on top of him…"

"Which is why you were both in the hospital wing at the beginning of the year," Lily completed, cutting James off.

"Right. Believe me now?"

She sighed. "I suppose so," and they both continued patrolling.

Harry and Ginny traded glances with each other under the cloak, then they continued patrolling.

**1 Week Later**

During dinner, Ginny nudged Harry rather viciously in the ribs, and jerked her head to the Gryffindor table.

Rubbing his side, Harry followed the gaze of his girlfriend to his favorite table. Immediately, he found his mother's red hair, and with a jolt, saw that the messy head of his dad was right next to her.

"Huh," Harry said, watching Lily and James laughing with Sirius and Remus. "Huh."

Ginny laughed and said, "It looks like you may be getting closer to being able to tell them, doesn't it?"

"Apparently," Harry replied dryly, turning back to his food.

"Don't try to fool me, Harry," Ginny scolded. "I know you're excited. You can't wait for it to be official so you can drop some not-so-subtle hint in front of your mum and just sit there grinning like an idiot until she figures it out."

"And if I do?" Harry asked his girlfriend with a smirk.

Her only response was to smack him on the arm.

**The Next Weekend**

It was the day before the late fall Hogsmeade visit, and James was pacing in his common room, waiting for Lily to come down from breakfast.

James was the first thing she saw when she opened her bedroom door, and she laughed. "What are you doing, James?"

He jumped and spun to face her, his hand magnetizing to his hair, baffling Lily. In all the years she had known him, she had never seen James Potter so nervous.

"I was, uh, waiting for you," he eventually answered.

"That was nice of you. But if you were so hungry you were pacing, you could have left without me."

"No," James said. "That's not it. I – um, Lily would you maybe come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Lily stopped packing her bag from her esk and looked at the boy across the room from her. "Like on a date?"

"Well, technically yeah, but we don't have to call it a date if you don't want to. I'm fine with that, totally completely fine, I promise-"

"James," Lily interrupted. "You're rambling."

He stopped and drooped his shoulders, ruffling his hair nervously.

Questioning herself, Lily abandoned her bag and crossed the room to James. Looking up into his hazel eyes, Lily squeezed her eyes shut and firmly said, "Yes."

Before she could open her eyes, she was lifted off her feet and spun in circles.

"Really?" James asked, his eyes alight.

Lily laughed. "Yes, James, I'll go to Hogsmeade with you."

"I promise you, Lily," he said solemnly, staring into her emerald eyes, "you won't regret it."

A few minutes later, the two of them entered the Great hall, gathering the notice of the two youngest professors at Hogwarts.

"Look at him," Harry whispered," he's smiling so big he may break his face soon."

"She must have said yes," Ginny replied.

"But only to Hogsmeade at this point."

Ginny gave him a look.

"He wouldn't risk it by going too fast after waiting six years. 2 Galleons says he asked her just to Hogsmeade."

Ginny smiled sweetly and shook Harry's hand. "You're on, Potter."

Later that night, there was a pounding on the door of the office that Harry and Ginny shared.

"Who is it?" Harry called from the couch he was lying on.

"It's James."

Lazily, Harry flicked his hand and the door opened. James practically ran to Harry and started pumping his hand, beaming.

"She said yes, Professor! I asked her to Hogsmeade and she said yes! I did what you suggested and she said yes! Thank you!"

With a yawn, Ginny sat up and leaned to her boyfriend, dropping two gold coins into his open hand.

"Were you betting on us?" James asked, amused.

"What?" Harry asked, pretending he didn't hear.

"You were betting on us," James accused again, laughing as he back out of the room. "Good night, professors, and thanks again."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I am now officially half way done with my last year of high school! To celebrate, you get an update :) I'm going to keep this short – I'll work on updating more often, like I always say and never do. Please read, review, and enjoy!**

* * *

The next day, when Lily came down into the common room, James was waiting for her. He was wearing dark jeans and a dark gray button up shirt, and was holding a bouquet of pink roses. His hair was almost plastered to his head he had made such an attempt at taming it. As Lily walked towards him, he held out the flowers.

She took them with a smile and said thanks. Then, standing on tiptoe, she ran her free hand through James' hair, messing it up so it looked how it normally did, before running to put the flowers in her room.

They ate breakfast with Remus and Sirius, and then were some of the first out of the doors and on their way to Hogsmeade.

"So, where are we going?" Lily asked James, who was purposefully being a little over-mysterious.

"Don't know," he shrugged.

"All right then," Lily asked again, "What are we going to do?"

She got the same reply.

"James, don't lie to me," Lily threatened.

He gazed down at the girl whose heart he had been after for years, and his charade broke. "I'm sorry, Lily. You're right, I was lying. It's a surprise, that's all."

Lily smiled to herself. He was trying so hard to make a good impression.

"Did you have anything that you wanted to do?" James asked politely.

All Lily had to do was mention that she had been hoping to get her Christmas shopping done early, and they started strolling through various shops. James shopped as she did, and soon became a human bag tree.

When they finished shopping, James led Lily away from the village a bit and up a hill. A giant willow sat on the top of the hill, and a picnic table covered with a white tablecloth sat under it, with a perfect view overlooking the busy little town.

He piled the bags next to the tree trunk, and picked up a wicker basket he had put there earlier.

After he led Lily to the picnic bench, he pulled out table settings and a meal for tow, and they ate lunch looking at the bustling little dots that were students in the village.

Little did they know, they were once again being eavesdropped on. Harry and Ginny were standing several feet away under Harry's Cloak, watching every move their favorite students made.

"Harry," Ginny whispered, "Why does this seem so terribly familiar?"

"Maybe because this isn't the first time we've spied on them," Harry suggested, knowing full well that wasn't what Ginny was talking about.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Not the spying, Harry, the date they're on! What they've been doing! Oh, don't pretend you don't know what I mean. Don't lie to me, Potter."

Harry sighed in defeat. "All right, all right. I did base our first date on theirs. Mum had all of her old diaries in their valuables vault, and I read about this in those. Plus, I heard about it from Sirius. Speaking of him…"

As Harry trailed off, he looked around the area until he found a large black dog lying under a nearby bush. Still invisible, he walked with Ginny over to the young Animagus.

When he was on eye level with the dog, he said, "Let's give them some privacy, shall we Padfoot? Head on back to the village, Mr. Black."

The two time-travelers carefully backed up as the dog gave a start, looking around in a confused way that no real dog ever would. It was all they could do to not laugh as they followed the fleeing dog down the hill, leaving Lily and James in private at last.

* * *

That night at dinner, all discussion stopped immediately when the doors were pushed open, and Lily and James walked in hand-in-hand.

"We just had to be late, didn't we?" Lily hissed as they made their way to the Gryffindor table, followed closely by the stares of every other student and almost all of the teachers.

The stares didn't stop when they sat, nor did the noise of the Hall pick up.

After a few seconds, James yelled, "All right, people, nothing to see here! Back to eating and talking!"

As the regular activity of the Hall resumed, Lily thought back to when James had asked her out.

_James packed up his picnic basket and together he and Lily walked down the hill back to town. He bought ice cream for both he and Lily and the began the trek up to their school._

_Just inside the gates, James grabbed her hand, pulling her back._

"_Please, Lily," he started, "Hear me out for a minute. To me at least, today seemed to go really well, and it looked like you enjoyed it at least a little bit, and I would really like to be able to do something like this again."_

_Lily began to laugh, and James panicked, then looked sheepish. "I'm rambling, aren't I?" he sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Lily, will you go out with me? I promise if you don't want to I'll never ask you again."_

_Lily sighed and stared into James' hazel eyes. After a few seconds, she murmured, "Yes."_

_James grinned like a madman and engulfed Lily in a crushing hug. "Thank you, Lily," he mumbled into her hair. "I swear to you, you won't regret it. We won't go too fast, I'll let you pick how fast we go."_

"_James!" Lily choked out. "You're half crushing me!"_

_Quickly, he released her and sheepishly but slowly took her hand in his, and they began to walk up to the school._


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So, I officially suck at updating. I'm almost caught up with updates and writing with this story. I have Chapter 12 written, which is a long one, and part of Chapter 13 done. I'm working on a couple non fanfic things, and when I have the time to write, which isn't often anymore, I've been working on those. I'm at 88 reviews, which is the most I have for any of my stories, more than all of the other 3 combined actually, and it'd be epic if we could bump it up to 100, or more after this chapter, which is one of my favorites. You know the drill – Read, Review, and Enjoy! And did I say Review?**

**Disclaimer: Italicized pieces paraphrased from POA.**

**Chapter 11**

A few days later, the N.E.W.T. Defense students entered the classroom to see their two teachers sitting on top of an enormous old trunk.

Slightly confused, they filed to their seats and glanced up at Harry and Ginny expectantly, becoming increasingly concerned as their teachers just stared.

After a couple minutes of watching his class squirm, Harry suddenly grinned. "What are we sitting on? Anyone?"

"A piece of crap trunk, Professor," Sirius answered.

Harry rolled his eyes as Ginny laughed next to him. "Such an intelligent answer, Mr. Black. An answer like that deserves house points. Zilch, zero, nada, cero… how many should he get, Gin?"

She laughed, then turned to the class. "Really though, nobody has any idea of what's in the trunk? Well, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?"

"Nobody should be able to tell you," Lily said. "Boggarts are shapeshifters which mold themselves to whatever a person fears the most."

"Good," Harry said. "Five points, Lily. The reason we're studying them is because they are dark creatures. They feed on fear, and don't use it as a defensive attack. There's a spell to destroy a boggart, but first you confuse it by having several people go in front of it. It will take the shape of your worst fear, then you say _Riddikulus_ and it becomes something entertaining."

Half of the class had filed past the boggart by the time Remus ended up in front of it. The hand-sized tornado that had been left by the previous student morphed into a large, silver-white sphere that hovered near the ceiling of the classroom.

Despite the confused looks lof his classmates, Remus gamely raised his wand. White-faced, he gulped before saying, "_Riddikulus_!"

Remus watched with a grim smile as the orb became a yellow, smiley-face balloon that grinned back at him.

"Well, Remus," Harry said from where he was watching on his desk. "That was quite enlightening."

"Yeah, I never knew you found smiley-faces so amusing," Ginny added with a wink, causing James and Sirius to roar with laughter. "James you go."

James left his seat next to Lily and sauntered to the front of the classroom, fully confident in himself. Instantly, however, every bit of the bravado vanished as James saw what the boggart had become for him.

In place of the cheery balloon left courtesy of Remus lay a boggart body that replicated Lily down to the freckles scattered over her face. The body's face was contorted, whether in fear or pain, James wasn't sure.

He froze, and the color rushed from his face until he was almost as ashen as the seemingly dead representation of Lily in front of him.

James remained still, staring at his worst fear in incredibly lifelike form, as the rest of the class alternated between looking at the boggart, Lily, and James. They had never seen James so shaken and with so little confidence in himself; he usually had an over-abundance of it.

Harry looked like he wanted to help, but Ginny was holding him back gently. Sirius and Remus both sat in shock, watching their friend act in no way he'd ever acted before.

After several minutes, it was Lily who finally made a move. She was shocked as well; it was a strange experience to look at yourself as if you were dead. In addition, she now had absolutely no reason to doubt how much James loved her, if his worst fear was seeing her dead.

Quietly, she walked so that she was standing behind James, and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.

"James," she murmured, getting up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. "It's okay. I'm okay. You're scaring everybody a little. It's just a boggart, James, it's so simple. You can do it, I know you can, just one little word."

Suddenly, James raised his wand and muttered the spell, and instead of Lily's body, the body of Bellatrix Black lay on the floor.

He gave a shaky laugh and turned around, pulling Lily into his chest in a crushing hug.

Before they had even made their way back to their seats, Harry had called for Sirius to step up. He walked in front of the trunk and the boggart became a life-sized representation of Sirius. At first, it may have been concluded that what Sirius feared the most was looking in a mirror, but then the boggart-Sirius rolled up his left sleeve. The boggart shifted so that his arm was visible to the class, revealing a large black tattoo of a skull with a snake twisting out of its mouth.

Sirius flinched visibly and a cold sort of glint entered his gray eyes before he shouted, "_Riddikulus_!"

With a crack, the tattoo of the Dark Mark replaced itself with another, this one showing a scruffy-looking black dog in mid stride.

This, of course, meant nothing to the majority of the class, nor did it seem funny in any way at all, but Sirius' glare was shattered by his wide grin, and his barking laugh was accompanied by two poorly disguised snorts (from James and Remus) and two humor-filled eye rolls (from Harry and Ginny).

"Good, Sirius!" Harry praised. "Lily, you're up next."

Lily squeezed James' hand and he was finally convinced to let her go. She moved in front of the boggart and it changed once more, this time to show Lily's worst fear.

Staring down Lily was a young blonde woman whose cruel eyes were set in her horse-like face. It was a boggart version of Lily's sister, Petunia, and she wasn't happy. In fact, she opened her mouth and began to scream insults at Lily in a shrill, grating voice.

"You're a freak! You were never normal! Mum and dad say you're special, but they lie! They just don't want to tell you you're different! Face it, Lily, you're a –"

But the boggart's ranting was cut off when Lily shouted the spell and caused it to lose its voice.

"Who's the freak now, Pet?" Lily muttered under her breath. "At least I'll actually amount to something."

"Good job," Ginny praised. "Now we'll both take our turns and he should be about ready to finish off at that point."

Harry stepped in front of the trunk, fully expecting the boggart to take the form it always did for him – a dementor.

Instead, the Petunia-boggart disappeared, and the lights in the room dimmed. Harry looked at Ginny, and they both shrugged, but their faces instantly became panic-stricken as two disembodied voices filled the air. Only an incredibly quick nonverbal spell from Ginny obscured the first word.

_"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off – " followed by the noises of a person stumbling, a door slamming, and laughter_

_ "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"_

_ "Stand aside, you silly girl… Stand aside, now…"_

_ "Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead –"_

Harry was frantically muttering "_Riddikulus, Riddikulus_," over and over, but to no avail; the voices continued.

"_Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy…" then the cold laughter again, and the woman's screams._

It went deathly quiet, and everybody was gazing at their teacher who could do everything, but who was now starring in horror at the boggart he had failed to beat.

Wanting to fix the situation, Ginny jumped in front of her boyfriend. Instantly, the room brightened, and a dingy looking book lay on the floor a few feet from Ginny.

She glared at it for a few seconds, then uttered the spell which resulted in the little black book being stabbed repeatedly with a blood covered fang.

She then began to laugh maniacally, causing her entire class to look at her with apprehension.

"All right!" Ginny declared. "It's good and confused. Remus, why don't you step up and finish it off?"

Remus got out of his desk and faced the boggart, the strang orb appearing once more. With a final shout of "_Riddikulus_!" the boggart exploded in its confusion.

After seeing that Harry remained in his trance-like state, she turned to face the class.

"All right, people, excellent job today! Each of you who faced the boggart, which is all of you, gets 3 house points. Isn't it lovely to learn so much about your classmates? Um, this is awkward, and has been for a while, so class dismissed – see you all next week."

As she wrapped her arms around Harry and was pulled into a hug, she saw James holding Lily close as they left the room with a backwards glance at their teachers.

Nobody had expected that the simple boggart lesson would end up with so much drama involved.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Finally, I am updating on a day that I said I would. We'll just not think about that it's late at night... I'm done with high school! Done with calculus (even though I just found out that I'm enrolled in calc next year)! So I just typed up this chapter, it was still only handwritten in my notebook, so you should all feel special. It's a long, entertaining chapter, in my opinion, so please read, review, and of course, enjoy!

Harry and Ginny had just finished their grading one night, and neither of them particularly wanted to leave the comfortable quiet of the office. Ginny was sprawled across the couch, softly flipping through the Fall 1977 issue of "Seasonly Quidditch," which she was finding to be very entertaining. Harry, however, had his desk chair tilted back and his feet resting on the surface of the desk, and was idly spinning his wand as he started into space, occasionally shooting gold sparks into the air.

"You know," he mused, "I don't think I've spent the holidays without your brother since I met him."

Ginny closed her magazine and sighed. "You miss my family just as much as I do, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Your family is the only family I've ever had."

"It's been months now," Ginny pointed out. "Mum's probably gone mad by now. I just wish there was some way for us to let them know we're safe and that they can go on with their lives."

Harry's wand stoped mid-spin, and he took his feet off the desk, pulling a self-inking quill and a scrap of parchment to him. He scribbled furiously for a few minutes, under the curious look that Ginny was sending him.

Suddenly, he stood up, cramming his note-covered piece of parchment and a new roll of parchment into his robe pocket, and carefully pocketing the quill.

As he headed to the door, Ginny asked, "Harry, what's going on? Where are you going"

"Library," he answered, with a wide grin. "I might have found a way to contact home!"

After several minutes, Ginny decided to retire to the rooms she and Harry shared, and was joined by him a few minutes later.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" she asked lazily.

"I think I've got it, Gin! How to communicate with home!"

With a grin and a flourish, he sent his true Patronus prancing over to Ginny, who looked at him and sighed.

"Harry, I know you can cast a Patronus. What does it matter?"

"It matters everything, Ginny!" Harry said, sitting down next to her. "I think, with a little tweaking, we should be able to send messages home, by sending a Patronus through time. It needs to be tested of course, and, well, first I've got to come up with the spell, but I think it will work. You don't happen to have brought a time-turner with you?"

"Harry," she said, exasperated. "You know I don't. Do I need to remind you that I just showed up with only what I was wearing?"

"Wait! I might have one in my trunk somewhere. I'll be right back."

Harry jogged to his trunk in the bedroom and started throwing things haphazardly around the room for a few minutes. Finally, he emerged from the trunk victorious, a tiny, golden hourglass clutched in his fist.

For the next several days, Harry spent all the free time he had brushing up on his Latin and spell creating, desperately trying to come up with an incantation. He only stopped to eat, teach, and sometimes sleep.

Ginny, who was getting a little fed up with this, finally suggested, "Harry, love, it's been a while since you've pranked your dad and Sirius."

Harry sat his quill down and looked up, a glint in his eyes and a grin on his face.

"You have an idea?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, yeah," Harry replied, chuckling. "Do you want to help me dig through my things? I know I have some WWW Instant Sleep Powder somewhere..."

That night, under the Invisibility Cloak with a bag of materials, Harry and Ginny crept up to Gryffindor Tower. They used the Map to get the password, and let themselves into the empty common room before silently making their way to the boys' 7th year dorm.

Ginny reached into her bag and pulled out a clay capsule and two scarves, all from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Both she and Harry tied the specially-made scarves over their mouths and noses, and muttered the activation phrase. Then, she cracked open the door to let Harry toss the capsule of Instant Sleep Powder (guaranteed 1 hour of wakeless sleep) into the center of the room.

THey waited for a moment for the powder to spread, then entered the room to see a disaster zone inhabited by four boys. Luckily, James had decided to sleep in his old dorm that night in place of the Heads' dorm.

Harry cackled a little and walked over to Sirius, who was lying spread eagle on his stomach, half covered by the blankets.

Then, he revealed what he had gone to Muggle London to buy - four bald caps. With a charm he had made up previously, he semi-permanently affixed the bald cap to Sirius' head, making sure all of the boy's dark hair was smoothly covered. Then, he moved on to James' bed.

Ginny took his place by Sirius, and skillfully used a make-up charm to seamlessly blend the bald cap in with Sirius' skin tone.

Working quickly, the two finished pranking all four boys and retreated back to their rooms to wait until morning.

Sirius yawned and lifted his oddly light-feeling head from his pillows, and became a little disoriented when he noticed the lack of familiar hair hanging in front of his eyes. Without thinking, he ran a hand through his hair, only to discover that it wasn't there. He was now more than confused, and reached through the curtains of his bed for the hand mirror he always kept on the nightstand.

After a glance in the glass, he dropped the mirror, but it's crash was covered by the blood-curdling scream of a very vane 17-year-old, which woke not only the rest of his dorm, but the rest of the tower as well.

James' head peeked through Sirius' curtains, and still groggy and without glasses, he mumbled, "Whatsamatter?"

Sirius, who had his face in his hands, moaned, "My hair! My beautiful hair is gone! How can you ask what's wrong?"

Then, he looked up to see that James couldn't actually see him, and that he too was spontaneously bald.

"Your hair..." Sirius muttered, pointing at his friend's head.

Finally, James put on his glasses and immediately noticed Sirius' baldness. Then, panicked, he put two and two together and tentatively felt his own head, finding no hair. He too let out a hair-raising scream, and if by some miracle anybody had slept through Sirius' yell, they were definitely awake now.

A few hours later, when Harry entered his N.E.W.T. class, he saw that James, Sirius, and Remus all had stocking caps pulled over their heads. He nudged Ginny, who looked at the boys and smirked.

"Gentlemen," she said. "No hats in class. Please take them off."

Sirius looked insulted. "That's not a rule!"

Harry shrugged. "It is now. As your teacher, who has the power to make rules, I feel that hats are distracting in class," he said with a wink to three three boys. "Please take them off now."

"Nothing we do or say can convince you otherwise, Professors?" pleaded Remus.

"I'm afraid not. Now look at this - we're wasting class time because your hats are distracting us! Off please!" Harry said, cheerfully.

"There'll be even more distraction without the hats," James mumbled under his breath, glaring at his teacher. "And something makes me think you know it."

"Did you say something, James?" Ginny asked.

"No, Ma'am," he replied.

Slowly, knowing the entire class was looking at them, the three Marauders reached up to their hats and removed them with sighs.

For a moment, the room was silent. The bald boys were staring straight ahead to the blackboard, avoiding the stares of every single other person in the room.

Finally, somebody snickered. More and more people joined in, some even applauding the unknown pranksters.

"All right, all right," Ginny called after letting the laugher go fro a while. "Settle down!"

Harry acknowledged that they were more distracting with the hats off, and the boys quickly recovered their heads as Harry and Ginny finally started the lesson.

Harry was in a good mood that night. His prank was really well-received, and he was finally ready to send a message home.

With a flourish, Harry conjured his true Patronus into the room and beckoned it over to related his message.

"Hermione, Ginny and I are both safe. Let me know if this gets to you; it's had a long way to go. You'll need to alter the incantation to Tempus Patronum, and that may be a clue as to where we are. If it works, I'll fill the whole family in with much more detail."

He motioned for the stag to deliver its message and watched as it took a few leaps before disappearing.

The sound of a door clicking shut made Harry jump. Wand out, he quickly turned to the door to se who had come in without his knowing. It was James.

"I'm sorry, sir," James said, awkwardly. "I came to ask you about how to get my hair back, and the door was open a crack, and - "

"How much did you see?" Harry interrupted.

"Is that your true Patronus, Professor?"

Harry sighed. "Yeah."

James stood there thinking for a few moments, and Harry cursed himself for being so careless as to leave the door open.

"Who's Hermione, Professor?" James asked jokingly. "Are you cheating on Professor West?"

Harry laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more, glad to have apparently sufficiently distracted his father.

"Not at all," Harry finally replied. "Hermione's basically my sister. She's dating Ginny's brother. Now, did you want something when you broke into my room?"

James' face grew serious. "The hair, Professor? Really? That's going awfully low. Can you undo it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come off it, Professor! You practically gave yourself away! You did this to my head! Lily must think I look ridiculous, thank you very much!" James ranted.

With a sight, Harry walked to James and ran his fingers over the boy's forehead, feeling for the slight raise of the bald cap he knew was there.

"Aha!" he proclaimed, as he peeled the rubber carefully off of James' head, and then handed it to the boy, laughing at his very flat hair and stunned expression.

James blinked. "A Muggle bald cap?"

"And semi-permanent sticking and make-up charms," Harry added.

"Genius!" James breathed. "Absolutely brilliant! I've got to hand it to you, sir, you're good. Really good."

Harry laughed and took a slight bow. "I try. Good night, James."


	13. Chapter 13

**AN:** Okay, so clearly by now we all know I am incapable of sticking to the update promises that I always make. So from now on, the only promise I'm going to make is this – I am still writing this story, and will continue to update it, just not terribly regularly. It's a combination of working, starting college, and working on three writing projects at once. Also, I don't know if it got changed on the online version, but when I started writing, Ron and Hermione were already either engaged or married, but disregard that. This is what really happens. Sorry if it's confusing. This is kind of just a filler chapter with some humor in it (I hope), but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Check out my other fics, and as always, Read, Review, and Enjoy!

**Chapter 13**

The door clicked shut behind James and Harry slumped against it with a sigh. 'Thank Merlin!' he thought to himself. 'That was close.'

He was still sitting against the door a few minutes later when a silver otter floated into the room.

"Gin!" he called, standing up excitedly. "Ginny! Come here, now!"

She ran into the room and skidded to a halt when she saw Hermione's Patronus. "It worked? What did she say?"

"Dunno yet," Harry shrugged. "I was waiting for you."

He motioned to the Patronus, and Hermione's voice began to fill the room. "Harry, it's so good to hear from you! We were all so worried! You should have seen Molly – it was rather terrifying actually. Where are you? The entire family is here already. I called them as soon as I sent this off. Please reply quickly, Harry; we've all been so anxious!"

Without wasting a second, Harry conjured his new Patronus spell, while Ginny sent powerful soundproofing charms into every corner of the room.

"Well, hi to everybody. Ginny and I are both perfectly safe, I assure you. Sorry to have caused so much worry, but there really hasn't been any way to get a hold of you until I came up with this spell.

"We're at Hogwarts, and I'm sure you've scoured the entire castle already, but it's much more a matter of _when_ we are, as opposed to _where_. As I'm sure Hermione just figured out, we're not in your year, hence the changed spell. Long story short, we're not quite sure how we got here, but we're at Hogwarts in 1977, teaching Defense."

With another shrug, he sent his message off and joined Ginny on the couch to wait for the reply. They didn't have to wait very long for it.

This time, it was Ron's terrier that burst through the stone wall. "1977? Harry, weren't your parents, and Sirius and Remus, and Snape all in school then? 'Mione's telling me I'm right, so how are you managing teaching and avoiding questions? You know, about your name and looks?"

"Let me handle this one, Harry?" Ginny asked before casting her Patronus with the new spell.

"Ron," she said calmly, "Harry and I aren't stupid. He's Professor Peterson and I'm Professor West, and Harry's gone blond-haired and brown-eyed. None of the Marauders, or even Lily, are smart enough to figure it out, even though Harry's been dropping hints all over the place. Enough about us – is there any news from home that we need to know?"

The next response was from Hermione again. "You must be having a blast! But you know you can't meddle with time, Harry. Anyway, Teddy's doing just fine. Andromda adores him and is giving him the best care possible, and we get weekly updates. Last we've heard, he's going to end up a chatterbox. Fleur had the baby – a little girl they named Victoire. And… Ron finally found the courage to ask me to marry him! The date is in a little less than a year, so you better be back!"

Ginny squealed in excitement. "It's about time! Who would have thought that ickle Ronniekins would be the second to get married?"

Harry took is turn for the message, and sent his stag off, saying "Congratulations! We will definitely be back for the wedding, which I'm really glad about. And, Bill and Fleur, congratulations to you too, I'm sure your little girl's adorable!"

The next message came from Mrs. Weasley, who said, "I'm so glad we got to hear from you! We can all breathe again now. Oh, and Harry, dear, take care of my little girl."

There came a knocking at the door, and Ginny went to check the map, returning saying that it was Sirius and Remus.

Harry grinned and sent off a final Patronus. "Don't worry at all, Mrs. Weasley. I won't let her get hurt. Sorry to cut this short, but the door is about to be pounded down, as you might be able to hear. It'll be Sirius and Remus, asking for their hair back. We love you all, and next time we have the chance, we'll talk again. Until then, take care!"

As the last traces of silver vanished, no doubt to leave his family back home in utter confusion, Harry lazily waved a hand at the door, admitting an unsuspecting Sirius who had been pounding heavily at the door. He landed squarely on his face and Remus merely glanced at him before entering the room, chuckling.

Sirius moaned painfully into the floor before rolling over onto his back, only to be met with his teachers' upside-down faces.

"Can we help you boys?" Ginny asked, innocently.

Scowling, Sirius pushed himself up from the floor and demanded, "Care to explain, Professors, why James has suddenly regained hair? And more importantly, why we haven't?"

"He came to ask how we did it, and we told him, and then he was able to undo it with our help," Harry answered.

"Well?" Sirius demanded again, staring at his young teachers, who were looking at him expectantly.

Thankfully for Sirius, Remus was quick to grasp the situation. "Professor Peterson, Professor West, would you _please_ tell us how you pulled off such a spectacular prank on us?"

"Suck up," Sirius mumbled.

Ginny chuckled. "Have you boys ever heard of bald caps? They're muggle things…"

Sirius' face became enraged, while Remus' took on an impressed look.

"Really?" Remus asked. "Bald caps? It's that simple? You didn't do anything to our hair, only covered it up?"

"Yup," Harry replied, happily, popping the 'P.' "I mean, there was the semi-permanent sticking spell and the make-up spell to blend the cap in with your skin tones."

He watched, amused, as Sirius began to claw his forehead until he found the edge of the bald cap, and then yanked at it with all of his might, unsuccessfully trying to remove it.

Outraged, Sirius turned to face Remus, who was holding the trick cap in one hand and running the fingers of the other through his incredibly messy blond hair.

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Sticking charm, Padfoot, remember? Cancel it before you rip the skin from your forehead."

Almost quicker than they could perceive, Sirius had removed the charm and thrown the bald cap into a corner of the room. He had barely touched his hair before he took off running from the room, leaving behind Remus and his two professors, the latter two who were at this point were slightly confused.

Remus laughed at the looks on their faces and explained, "He wasn't able to brush his hair this morning. More importantly, I think, he wasn't able to wash it. I know he left without thanking you, so I'll do it for both of us. And, I've got to hand it to you two, _great_ prank!"

It was Harry's turn to laugh, if not at how conceited his godfather was, then at Remus' praise. "I can't take all of the credit. Some of it has to go to my dad and friends of his, and a lot of it goes to two of Ginny's brothers."

"Oh, Remus," Ginny called before he shut the door. "Come ready for Defense your next lesson. We're going to begin dueling!"

Remus laughed and said he would, before again thanking his young teachers for telling them how to undo the prank and bidding them


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: So…. I am making no more promises as to when next updates will be, since obviously I suck at that. I just finished my first semester of college, and was unprepared for how little time I would have to write. Because of that, and because I want to actually begin legitimate work on things that I hope to publish, I am going to try to finish this up fairly quickly. But that's not a promise as to how quickly updates will come. The one promise that I will make to you is that this WILL be finished. No matter how long I go without updating, it will not be abandoned. SO on that note, here's chapter 14. As always, read, review, and enjoy!**

After more than a week spent meticulously planning his teaching series on duels, Harry was finally ready to begin.

By the time he had reached his classroom, the students had already assembled inside. Harry threw open the door and quickly walked in, his black Auror robes billowing behind him. He forcibly reminded himself of Snape's common entrance to his Potions classes and bit back a smile to keep up the serious mood.

"All right. We're finally going to start a series of classes focused on dueling. To start, I want to hear what you know about duels. If you've got something, just shout it out," Harry said, from the front of the room.

When nobody answered, Ginny called, "Oka, we know you know at least some things about duels. James? Sirius?"

James looked up in surprise and answered, "Er, you bow at the beginning, I suppose."

"And you bring along a second, in case anything happens to you," Sirius added in.

Harry sighed. "Like I suspected, your preconceptions of duels are mainly based on traditional, tournament style duels. In all the duels I've been in, I think I've only bowed twice. Once was in a dueling club, and once I was forced to under the Imperius. Do you really think that in a fight to the death, opponents politely bow before they battle? Do you think that Dumbledore stopped to bow to Grindelwald, or that in the middle of a war, you and your opponent call a halt to the fighting, just so you can exchange pleasantries? Of course not! That's stupid! Lesson number one, unless you're positive it's a controlled, tournament-like duel, never open yourself up to the danger that can hit while you take the time to bow.

"As far as seconds go, again, that's generally associated with a traditional, challenged duel. That's not to say that learning to duel with a partner there is a bad thing, of course. If you've got someone standing off to the side watching you fight when they could also be fighting, that's a waste of a person. It's also admitting to your opponent that you're unsure of your ability to beat them. Understand?

"Now, I'd like to duel against one of you, to see how you'd actually fare in a battle-like situation. We'd be playing disarm only, and will be surrounded by a dome-like ward that will protect your classmates. Volunteers?"

Harry grinned when after a few seconds, Sirius raised his hand. "Alright, Mr. Black! Come on down! You're the next contestant on 'Fight Your Professors!'"

Sirius, along with the rest of the class, look at Harry blankly. Then, Sirius said, "I wasn't volunteering myself to get destroyed by you. I just wanted to say that you had asked way back at the start of term for us to remind you to duel Snape."

Ginny and Harry both snorted a bit, although Harry disguised his much better than Ginny. That was so typical of Sirius that they couldn't help but laugh.

Harry shook his head. "This is true. Mr. Snape, then, if you would?"

With a scowl aimed at Sirius, Snape sulked to the front of the room and stood across from Harry.

"Alright," said Harry cheerfully. "Rules are pretty simple. No Unforgivables or Dark spells. Ginny? Give us a count down?"

She started counting down from five, and when she hit two, both Harry and Snape threw out mild curses. Harry danced with ease out of the way of Snape's Freezing Hex, and Snape very narrowly ducked Harry's jinx.

Immediately after avoiding the curse directed at him, Harry sent two Stunners back at Snape in rapid succession.

Snape managed to avoid both Stunners, and steeled himself to take the Stinging Hex that was Harry's next attack. He tried to use the extra time he got from not dodging to his advantage, but it did no good.

On the other side of the duel, Harry was having fun. He knew right from the start that Snape was a fairly decent dueler, but also that he was no whre close to a match for him. Thinking back to the boy Snape's doubts about his proficiency and the adult Snapes' extended mockery of him, Harry couldn't help but use the situation to his advantage.

After quite a few minutes of forcing Snape to hastily dodge all over the room, Harry smirked. He sent two quick Stunners, distracting Snape by forcing him to dodge once again, and then he sent a Freezing Hex at his feet.

Snape's feet turned to ice, and off-balanced, he toppled to the ground, panting.

Harry said, "Expelliarmus," and casually held out his hand to catch the wand that flew to him. He unfroze Snape's feet and tossed back his wand, before sending him back to his seat and turning to face the class, only to receive a round of applause.

He conjured up a pitcher of water and two mugs, offering one to Snape and taking one for himself.

"Good," Harry said. "Very nice job, Mr. Snape. Take 15 points for Slytherin."

Sirius interrupted at that point. "Why give him points? He lost. You're still rewarding him?"

"Mr. Snape is a very commendable dueler, Mr. Black. Yes, he lost, but let me remind you that he is a student and I am a trained Auror. If I hear anything else similar to Mr. Black's comment, I'll take points and give you the opportunity to more than likely be beaten by Snape in a duel in front of the class. Now, we're going to analyze the duel for a bit. What was the first thing you noticed?"

"You didn't start at the count," Lily answered. "That's not terribly fair, is it?"

"You don't get it!" Harry said, exasperatedly running his hand through his long blonde hair. "Nothing can ever be expected in a real duel situation! If you're dueling with a Dark wizard, do you think he's going to say 'Okay? Go!' No! Because that's stupid! You'll note that Mr. Snape also started early, which is something that _I_ wasn't expecting."

Ginny put a calming hand on Harry and pushed him to the desk, before she picked up the lecture.

"What's important to realize is that dueling is much more than spellwork alone. Yes, that's obviously key, but people often underestimate the physical and mental aspects of it, along with the element of surprise. If you can do something to catch your opponent off guard, or something that will give you an advantage, even a temporary one, do it.

"It doesn't need to be 'clean' per say either, if it give you a leg up. If Harry here were dueling in the middle of a rainstorm, he could cast _Impervius_ on his glasses so he could see, and could also cast _Obscuro_ at his opponent to blindfold him. You could randomly cast some sort of explosion charm at the ground at the feet of your opponent. Are you all beginning to see what we're saying?"

Harry then stood up and dismissed class, promising them an interesting lesson during their double the next week.

When the N.E.W.T. students got to the class the next week, they found the room transformed. It had been magically enlarged, and the desks had been pushed against the back wall. At the other end of the room was a set of bleachers and a large clock. There were two large circles drawn on the ground in the middle of the room, and the entire arrangement left the class sitting on the bleachers, confused.

They all jumped when the door was thrown open and Harry and Ginny entered carrying two large easels, which they sat next to the circles. The young professors walked to stand in front of their waiting students and grinned at them.

After several seconds of watching them squirm, Harry began to give instructions. "All right! To continue our series on dueling, we're going to have a couple of contests. The first will be a physical dodging contest, and the second a shielding contest."

"Right," Ginny said. "Two of you will be on the floor at a time, one doing each contest. You will be timed to see how long you can keep up the dodging or hold your shield up. The point of this is to drill into your heads how important these skills are. You'll all give your try and your time will be recorded, then at the end of each round, the lower half will be knocked out of the contest. Because of the importance of this lesson, the contests will go on for the next week or so. You'll each do both contests, but you'll never have to do more than one of them per class period. Questions?"

Lily raised her hand. "What about the people who aren't currently participating? Will we be safe?"

"Yeah!" Sirius agreed. "And who will be fighting us?"

Harry laughed. "You see the circles? Once the contests start, wards will rise, which will prevent spells from escaping and hitting you. And, Sirius, Ginny will be casting the spells for the shield contest, and I will be in the dodging one. Excited? We'll start out at a moderate pace, and the speed will increase after every minute. The next two class periods will be to get to the top six in both tests. The next class will weed it down to the top three in both, and then points will be given. So, let's start. Ms. Winters, if you'll start with me, and Mr. Hall, with Ginny please."

The students stepped uncomfortably into the circles, followed by their professors. As soon as Harry and Ginny entered the circles, the line along the floor glowed gold, and rose to form a dome high above their heads. It flashed gold and then vanished, leaving the occupants of the circles in full view of the rest of the class.

Lily, who had been chosen as a sort of referee, called out, "Shield up! On your marks, get set, go!"

Immediately after she said go, she started the clocks and Harry and Ginny leapt into action.

Ginny was casting disarming spells one after the other at the Ravenclaw in front of her, and Harry was forcing the terrified Hufflepuff girl in the ring with him to slip and run all over the circle, frantically trying to avoid being hit.

She hardly lasted a minute before she fell victim to a Stunner, and the ward shone gold again. The time was instantly recorded on one of the easels. Not too long after, one of Ginny's disarmers broke through the shield of her opponent, and his time was recorded as well.

It came as no surprise to either Harry or Ginny that by the time the contests had narrowed it down to the three best students, that James and Sirius had both earned themselves house points for being two of the best dodgers. It was a surprise that quiet, awkward, gangly Frank Longbottom also ended up in the top three, but then Harry and Ginny remembered that the boy ended up an Auror, and would have had to have been good at dodging.

In the shield strength challenged, James found himself in the top once again, this time, however, flanked by Lily and Snape.

The challenges were the last segment of Harry's dueling series, and by the end of them, he was incredibly pleased with how much his students had learned.

There were some things taught in school, a lot of things actually, he though, that were completely useless. The dueling lessons were priceless for the students he had just taught.

True, as he looked around the room, he saw the faces of people, who, like his parents, would not make it through the war, but he hoped that they made it a lot farther than they would have without his teaching. But he also saw the faces of Frank Longbottom, who would end up a respected Auror, and of Severus Snape, who, despite everything else, ended up a very accomplished dueler.

Harry knew he had made a difference, and it was a great feeling for him to ease into the Christmas season with.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Here you go, chapter 15. I don't have much to say, other than once again I'm sorry it's taking so long between updates. Don't worry though, I haven't given up on this though. So once again, please Read, Review, and Enjoy.**

One night, several days after Harry had wrapped up his N.E.W.T. dueling series, he and Ginny were sitting in their office, for once without anything to do.

Without warning, Ginny stood up and walked a circle around Harry, saying, "How often is it that you go this long without a haircut? It's getting obnoxiously long. Let me cut it for you."

"I like it long, Gin," Harry protested weakly, knowing it would do no good.

"Yes, I know you do, but it's too long right now. Plus, it will give me an excuse to see you how you should look, not with this phlegm hair you're forced to wear."

"Why do I need to take the disguise off for you to cut my hair?"

"What might look good with the blonde hair could look terrible with your natural color. Trust me, Harry, it's a woman's intuition. Besides, wouldn't you like to actually be you? At least for a few minutes?"

Harry sighed, knowing that once again he had been bested by the stubbornness that came along with the Weasley name. Silently, he removed his disguise for the first time since he had crafted it.

Ginny grinned. "Thank you, love. Now, look in the mirror – do you see what a difference the hair color makes? With your dark hair this long, you almost look like post-Azkaban Snuffles."

"I resent that!" Harry cried.

"Fine, you look like pre-Azkaban Snuffles."

Harry laughed. "_He'd_ resent that! You were right, it looks bad like this. Cut it, but keep it decently long."

"Yes, Harry," Ginny said patiently. "I know you like your hair long. After eight years, I do know how you 'style' it."

As Ginny began to work on his hair, Harry said, "Did I ever tell you that a lot of my accidental magic when I was a kid was with my hair?"

At that moment, however, Lily and James were drawing near to the office door, as they had wanted to stop by. Harry and Ginny had almost been expecting a visit from the Heads that day, and had left the door cracked for them, a crucial action that they had forgotten in their boredom and neglected to remedy before they started the haircut and the conversation that came with it.

And so, it happened that Lily and James were in prime position to hear their professors talking.

"…so bad now that it's long," they heard Harry say, as they were almost to the door. "But, you know how messy it gets when its shorter like Dad's is. Anyway, Aunt Petunia _hated_ it. They didn't like wasting money on me, so she'd cut it herself, once a week."

James was about to knock when Lily threw her arm out in front of him, preventing him from doing so. He looked at her quizzically, and she hastily explained in a whisper, "Petunia is my sister's name… It's probably nothing, but just wait a few minutes."

"…awful cuts, all the time. She'd cut it all off except for just enough bang in the one spot to hide my scar. I'd go to sleep dreading school, and wake up with it how it was before she cut it. Vernon was always furious. I'd get screamed at and thrown in my cupboard – he hoped he could punish the magic out of me…"

Lily gasped and walked back the way she had come, muttering to herself. "Petunia and Vernon, no, can't be… But, the staring, and, and, the flying… Oh! The necklace? And pushing us, betting on us… No. No, it can't be."

"Lils?" James asked cautiously, having followed her up the hallway. "Are you okay?"

Lily shook her head. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go say hi now, shall we?"

They knocked, and then pushed open the door without being told to, only to immediately stop in their tracks.

Harry, who had stood up, was also frozen, silently cursing himself for his carelessness in leaving the door open and for not realizing they were outside of it. He was supposed to be a highly successful Auror, for Merlin's sake!

After a pause, Lily and James breathed at the same time, "You're my son."

Then, they looked at each other in shock, and said, "_Your_ son? He's _my_ son."

Then, it clicked, for both of them. "Oh!" they gasped. "He's _our_ son."

And then they both fell to the floor in faints.

Harry and Ginny had remained motionless during Lily and James' epiphany, which would have ordinarily been incredibly entertaining to witness. Slowly, Harry stepped over his parents and shut and locked the door before turning and leaning against it, saying, "Well then."

Ginny cast _eneverate_ on both of them, and when they sat up, confused, she gestured to one of the couches, saying, "Take a seat."

They did, and both gazed at Harry. After a few seconds of silence, James bluntly asked, "So, are you? Are you our son?"

Harry was at an utter loss. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, which was now just a little bit longer than James'.

Before he could come up with an answer, Lily pointed at him and said, "James! He is our son! He picked up that stupid habit from you, didn't you, Harry? And look! He has my eyes!"

Harry looked to Ginny, trying and failing to buy himself more time. Finally, he threw his hands up and just decided to go for it.

"That's what everybody says. I look like Dad buy I have Mum's eyes. The hair thing I picked up on my own. Um, okay, so it's a terrible way to start off, but I can't lie about something this big. Do you remember what I said about my parents at the start of term?"

Lily and James sat there, still stunned by the revelation that their future son had spent the last four months with them, clearly trying to remember. After a few moments, Lily gasped and looked at Harry, willing him to tell her she was wrong. James had also realized by this point what Harry was referring to, and was helplessly looking between his future wife and future son.

"Tell us what happened," Lily pleaded, squeezing James' hand tightly.

With a sad look, Harry sat down and began to tell the future to his young parents in front of him. He left out the part about Pettigrew betraying them and Sirius being sent to Azkaban, thinking about his father's tendency for rash actions.

"Did you say you were thrown into a cupboard by your uncle?" James questioned, after Harry finished his story by saying he was left with Petunia and Vernon.

"Er, I slept in the cupboard," Harry answered hesitantly, watching the anger build on his father's face and more tears running down his mother's. "I didn't get a bedroom until my Hogwarts letter came."

Lily sobbed loudly and threw herself at Harry, and for the first time he could remember, he hugged his mother.

After James had embraced Harry and pulled Lily back down to the couch, Harry said, "I'm sorry you found out. I mean, I wanted you to, so I could spend time with you as a family, but I didn't think about the fact that in telling you I'd be telling you that you only have four years left to live. It was selfish of me."

James vehemently disagreed with Harry, and asked, "So we found out. Are you going to _obliviate_ us?"

"Eventually," Harry replied. "When we leave we will. But for now, no, I'll let you remember this discussion."

"Great," James said. "I know it's short notice, but if you don't have plans for the holidays, would you and Professor West like to spend Christmas at my cottage? As a family?"

Harry smiled the first genuine smile he had since Lily and James burst through the door and looked at Ginny, who nodded and smiled waterly.

"We would love to," he replied.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: To all of you who kept asking for updates, I'm terribly sorry. I spend the summer working at a camp where I had very little spare time and no internet access. Thank you for continuing to read and stay loyal to this though. This is the last chapter before the epilogue. Surprise! I know it kind of wraps up super suddenly, but I don't have the time to continue writing fanfiction at the moment. So, finally, here's chapter 16. As always, please read, review, and enjoy!**

A few days later, on Christmas morning, Harry and Ginny found themselves curled up in an armchair in the living room of James' cottage in Godric's Hollow.

Lily's parents had given her permission to stay with the Potter's, and the Potter's were letting Lily and James spend most of their time at the cottage, which was also where Harry and Ginny were staying. Lily and James would spend most of Christmas day with the Potter's, giving Harry and Ginny some time alone, but were spending the morning as a 'family.'

Lily and James currently sat on a couch, facing their young professors, who were waiting for the question game to start. The four of them had agreed that no questions would be asked while they were still at school.

James looked into the almost identical face of his grown son, and asked, "What's your full name?"

"Harry James Potter."

Lily squeezed James' hand, and looked at Ginny. "And your name? Is it really Ginny West?"

Ginny shook her head. "It's Weasley, actually, if you can believe that."

"So we were, um, killed when you were one, and then what? Sirius took you, right? I imagine we made him your godfather," James asked, trying to start a story.

Harry sighed. "Sirius is my godfather, yeah, but I didn't go to him. A bunch of stuff happened and he wasn't able to take me, so Dumbledore sent me to the Dursley's – some sort of blood protection thing."

"And they were positively vile to you, weren't they?" Lily asked. "My sister hates the very thought of magic, James. I'm sorry you had to live with her and that rotten man, Harry."

Harry shrugged his shoulders, assuring his mother it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"It got better at Hogwarts though, right?" Lily asked desperately.

"Er, I'll show you memories to explain my time at school," Harry responded.

"Tell us about Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Where are they now? In your time, I mean," James asked.

Ginny grabbed Harry's hand as he bluntly answered, "Dead. Sirius was killed by Bellatrix Lestrange, Black, whatever her name is now. Voldemort lured me somewhere and Sirius was one of the people who came to rescue and protect us. I was 15.

"Remus was killed fighting alongside his wife, Nymphadora Tonks. Their infant son, my godson, went to Tonk's mum, since I was 17."

"And Peter?" James prodded.

"Killed by a curse from Voldemort," Harry said, obviously not okay talking about Peter.

With a wave of his hand, Harry summoned a penseive out of his trunk. He grimaced, and beckoned his mother, father, and girlfriend over to take them on a whirlwind journey of his time at Hogwarts.

Several minutes later, the four of them reappeared in the living room of the cottage. There was a period of silence, where everybody just stared at each other.

It was Lily who broke the silence with a loud sob, throwing herself into Harry's arms, crying for the life of the son she would never know. James quickly joined, and Harry found himself able to express his fears and frustrations about all the things that had happened while he was in school with his parents for the first time.

They stood that way for a while, as a family crying together, father, mother, and son, despite the bizarre twists time travel had given it.

After a period of time, James said, "I feel terrible about leaving now, harry, after we've just learned everything, but my mum and dad will be expecting Lily and I for Christmas dinner."

"We want to give you our gifts before we leave though," Lily added. "Exchanging gifts like a proper family."

"Can we go first?" Ginny asked, knowing that the presents she and Harry had to give would be much less meaningful.

To Lily, she tossed a box which held golden earrings studded with emeralds, a perfect match to the necklace James had given her. She said, "It's a weird circle. Harry gave them to me with the necklace, saying you wore them in your wedding, but it was actually us who bought them for you. You gotta love time travel, right?"

Next, she tossed a box to James, who opened it to reveal a black leather wand holster, which he eagerly admired, and was pleased to see it was Auror standard.

Then, it was Harry's turn, and he handed a small box to each of his parents. James went first, and unwrapped a fist sized glass representation of a stag, which he stared at, amazed. Lily followed, and opened her box to reveal an emerald colored glass vase with three perfect glass lilies inside of it.

"These are muggle-made," she stated in awe.

James was shocked. "What? How? Magic couldn't hardly make these, how would muggles?"

Harry nodded. "It's hard to believe, I know. I've found, growing up in the muggle world, that even though they themselves aren't magical, they still have certain forms of their own magic. Glass blowing is one of them."

Together, Harry and Ginny presented a larger box to Lily and James. They opened it to find a couple small textbooks and several stacks of notes.

"Let me explain," Harry said when he saw their confusion. "The books are both written by us, and the notes either by us or other Aurors. It's all on advanced defensive magic, and one book is completely about the Fidelius charm. We've got Peterson and West on them, for after we've cast the memory charm."

Lily and James thanked Harry and Ginny profusely and hugged them tightly, before they started to pass out their gifts.

James tossed identical boxes to Harry and Ginny, who opened them to find professional quality Quidditch gloves. James encouraged Harry to look at his pair, and he did, discovering that the leather was engraved on both wrists. It said 'NEVER FORGET WE LOVE YOU ALWAYS – DAD.'

Harry looked up and locked eyes with his father, and mouthed a very sincere thank you to him.

Lily gave a dual gift of a copy of the journal she had been keeping since she and James started, which she charmed to duplicate everything she would journal between then and the day she died.

Then, she and James pulled out a large, framed photograph of the four of them. "I charmed a camera invisible and made it float around and take pictures of us. Then, I picked the best one and enlarged it."

All four of them embraced, emotionally drawn together through time. It was an embrace between parents and children; none of them cared that the children were older.

After a few moments, James said, "Really though, my mum and dad are expecting us soon."

They were about to leave when a silver otter burst into being.

"Harry, Ginny, are you in a place I can say something?" Hermione's voice came urgently.

Harry and Ginny were instantly alert. They sent a reply back and waited anxiously.

They didn't have to wait long. Once again, the otter materialized out of the air. All four of them focused on what the patronus had to say.

"Since the first time we talked and I figured out where, or rather when, you were, I started doing research. Initially, it was just my curiosity, wondering about the outside things that were going on, but then I came across all these scattered broken reports about a giant battle on Boxing Day, which should be tomorrow.

"You and Ginny weren't there, you can't have been. There was nothing in anything I read mentioning the Defense professors or any exceptional, non-Auror heroes. If you stay, you'll end up having to play hero and save lives and capture Death Eaters, and that'd be changing way too much. It's time to come home. We'll see you soon."

As Hermione's voice faded, it was replaced with a somber silence.

"So, that's it, then?" James asked, gloomily. "You're just going to vanish, we're going to forget everything about you, and you're leaving us to whatever hell is going to break out tomorrow?"

Harry took James by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "If I could do it any other way, I promise, no, I _swear_ to you, I would. Thank you, for everything. Now, and in the future."

Then, James pulled Harry into a crushing hug, and after a few moments, passed him off to Lily, who also had a tight embrace for him.

Holding hands, Harry and Ginny apparated to the gates of Hogwarts, where they reinstated their disguises and very carefully cast an invented memory charm, which was very selective and time triggered to cancel for Lily and James moments before their deaths.

They quickly packed up their classroom, office, and living quarters, and broke into the Headmaster's office.

Harry pulled out Dumbledore's penseive and tipped a memory into it. Hands clasped, Harry and Ginny leaned as one into the swirling memories, and were sucked out of the office and more than twenty years into the future.


	17. Chapter 17 Epilogue

**A/N:**Sorry, I suck and can't post things when I say I will. But, finally, here's the epilogue to All Thanks to a Memory. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I just wanted to thank you all very much for reading and reviewing. Speaking of which, review this! Haha. Also, posting this will mark the end of my posting on , at least for a while. I want to focus on college, and writing things that I can actually publish. Thanks for the good run though! Without further ado, the epilogue. Please read, review, and enjoy. - ZuvieGirl

21-year-old James Potter was lounging across a couch with his 1-year-old son sitting on his stomach. James was entertaining little Harry by playing with a training snitch, while his wife, Lily, watched from across the room.

Suddenly, a crash came from outside, and the front door started to shake violently.

"Lily! It's him! Quick, take Harry and go!" James hissed, as both he and his wife jumped into action.

Lily ran to snatch up her now crying son, and ran to the only place she could – upstairs. James grabbed his wand off the coffee table and positioned himself at the bottom of the stairs.

He watched as cracks began to form in the heavily protected door.

His eyes landed on a picture of his son on the mantle, and he whispered, "We love you, Harry. I hope you can still lead a good life if you make it through."

There was a blinding flash, and the door exploded, just as James was flooded with rapidly changing memories.

_Younger versions of Lily and himself, staring at the man who was the Defense professor, saying at the exact same time, "You're our son?" … Harry, pulling out of a high speed Wronski Feint, inches above the ground … Harry talking about Auror experiences with his arm around the shoulder of the woman he was madly in love with … Harry explaining the various pranks he pulled over on James and his friends … Harry and Ginny spending Christmas Day with he and Lily, exchanging gifts with each other … Harry's voice, saying "Thank you for your sacrifice, dad. I love you, and am glad I could spend the time with you that I did."_

And he was back in reality, face to face with Lord Voldemort. He raised his wand and stood his ground. Within seconds though, Voldemort had uttered those fateful words, and James crumpled to the ground at the foot of the stairs.

Unfazed, Voldemort started up the stairs, his robes trailing over James' body.

Meanwhile, in the nursery, Lily was hastily placing Harry in his crib, saying, "We're so sorry, baby. We tried. We know you'll be a great person if you make it somehow."

Lily stood between the door and the crib, listening to the approaching footsteps.

Suddenly, memories flooded her brain.

_She__and__James__confronting__a__double__of__James__' __in__the__office__of__the__Defense__professor,__and__saying,__ "__You__'__re__our__son?__" … __Harry__as__the__best__Defense__professor__they__'__d__ever__had__ … __How__devoted__Harry__was__to__Ginny__ … __Harry__telling__Lily__and__James__about__his__half-adopting__Teddy__ … __Finally,__it__was__Harry__'__s__voice__saying,__ "__I__'__ll__be__okay,__mum.__I__promise.__Thank__you__so__much__for__what__you__'__re__about__to__do.__I__lived__because__of__it.__Love__you__forever,__mum._"

And then Voldemort was in front of her, offering to let her live, saying she didn't need to die. She held her ground, and shortly after, Lily Potter's body also hit the ground.

There was a third flash of green, and it faded to leave only the emerald eyes of Harry Potter, gazing out through the bars of his crib.

The End.


End file.
